‘1883’: Paramount+ Wanted to Reverse Major Character’s Death to Make Another Season

Yellowstone prequel series 1883 was an undeniable hit for Paramount+, so much so that the streamer wanted to reverse a major character’s death to open the door for another season. During an extensive conversation with Deadline, series creator Taylor Sheridan opened up about the Yellowstone franchise and revealed that the studio really wanted to continue the limited series. Please note: 1883 spoilers are below.

Sheridan first discussed how much “autonomy” he’s been given by Paramount, following the success of Yellowstone on Paramount Network. “No one has had the freedom I’ve had since Robert Evans ran Paramount,” he said. “Bobby Evans had made movies before he became the head of the studio and so he understood how to turn them loose. If you trust them, trust them, and turn them loose. And under his regime, Paramount made some of the best movies they’d ever made, some of the best movies ever made. The Godfather. Love Story, many others. Bet on Al Pacino. Al Pacino had to borrow five dollars from them to get to the premiere.” Currently, Sheridan has four shows on Paramount+: Yellowstone spinoffs 1883 and 1923, as well as standalone series Mayor of Kingstown and Tulsa King.

The Oscar-nominated filmmaker went on to say, “I know they read the scripts, but they don’t read scripts, so when they read the last episode of 1883, I don’t think they digested what had just happened, even though I made it quite clear from the very beginning. The story I heard is [Paramount boss] Bob Bakish watched it and said, ‘Wait a minute, she dies! They all die? What do we do in Season 2?’ I said, there is no Season 2. They’re like, there better be a f—ing season two because we already picked it up. I’m sitting here going, guys, everyone is dead.”

Sheridan then revealed that Paramount+ was hoping to find a way to retcon Shea Brennan’s death — Sam Elliot’s character — so that his story could go on. “They wanted to have a meeting about how Sam Elliott survived his suicide,” Sheridan said. “By the very nature of the term it’s not something survivable, and who would want to see that? So, I said I’ll come up with another peek into the window and I sat there and tried to look at it.”

After months of trying to find an idea, Sheridan says they studio “kept going, ‘When are we going to get a script? I said, ‘I don’t know. Everyone is dead. I don’t know how to write the next season of this damn thing,’ but I kept hunting history, and I kept finding things. It’s the one great thing about the Dutton family; you can skip generations and put them in all these unique situations, and it has nothing to do with Yellowstone, nothing to do with 1883 and yet it’s tethered completely to them, but they’re all standalones. That’s what I find so intriguing about it.”

The first episode of 1923, starring Harrison Ford and Helen Mirren, is now streaming on Paramount+. Subscribers can also check out all episodes of 1883, the show’s predecessor. Those interested in trying out a free trial of Paramount+ can do so by clicking here.